Awesome Fundraisers: Calvin

Recently, we posted about our 2011 fundraisers—those who have signed up over on our My Action Against Hunger platform and created fundraising web pages to support unique projects. We’re so proud of the community that has grown as the result of this program. It’s one full of inspired ideas and individuals who aren’t afraid to take initiative.

Calvin Munson is one of the most impressive 14-year-olds we’ve ever seen. He’s an ambitious student active in sports and music, and also teaches pre-schoolers at his church. Up until this point, his parents have always helped him and his siblings work on community service projects, but as a high schooler, he felt that he should take up his own cause.

All throughout my younger life my parents always helped me and my siblings to do community service but now that I'm in high school I feel the responsibility to do something on my own to help less fortunate people. I chose ACF because it's a well-organized program with good values. I chose to help prevent hunger because I knew that starvation was a big problem in poorer countries and wanted to do something about it.

Calvin’s family runs a farm in Boulder that his grandparents started over 30 years ago. Since the farm regularly donates to the local food bank, giving food to others is second nature to Calvin and his family.

Calvin faced the challenge of being an incredibly busy teen, but still found time to mount an awesome campaign—he’s raised over $1,000! He found that email and Facebook were effective tools to drive people to his fundraising page. Since Munson Farms sells pumpkins, he creatively decided to give away a free pumpkin before Halloween to anybody who donated over a certain amount.

He advises new fundraisers to reach out to as many people as possible, and to ask them to share the project with their own networks – he says, “it attracts more people than you think.” He also advises fundraisers to develop “a creative, catchy theme for your fundraiser, one that will attract attention”. For more information on Calvin’s fundraising project, visit his Action Against Hunger page. And keep an eye out—he intends to repeat this fundraiser each year that he’s in high school!